Pickling and Passivating of Stainless Steel

Pickling and passivating technologies are consisten with: ASTM A-380, ASTM A967, PN-EN 2516:2000.
Passivation of SS products effects their high durability, resistance against pitting and
crevice corrosion, retards development of microorganisms. The SS surfaces lose strange
dark colours coming from cutting, welding or improper heat treatment and become smooth
after formation of an uniform oxide film.
Ancora Co. professional technicians have passed years of experiences in bath pickling /
passivating of SS elements in the company premisses in Gdansk and in passivating of
outdoor tanks, cargo tanks on ships carrying aggressive chemicals, pipelines and different
SS industry equipment.
CENZIN sp. z o.o.
81/83 Czerniakowska Street
00-957 Warsaw - POLAND
phone: +48 22 43 44 133
fax:
+48 22 43 44 163
cenzin@cenzin.com.pl
www.cenzin.eu

Pickling and Passivating of Stainless Steel

Passivating of hundreds of SS tanks and pipelines on ships belonging to world known ship
owners has been carried out in shipyards in Poland, Panama, Russia, Bulgaria, Canary
Islands on new build or repaired ships.

Specialistic equipment in pharmaceutical industry has been passivated in Poland and

Lithuania with traditional chemicals or with application of citric acid and peroxidised water.
Ancora Co. is authorised by the Swedish producer Avesta Finishing Chemicals to use its
chemicals for SS cleaning, pickling and passivating.
Passivating Plant in Gdansk is well equipped to carry out pickling / passivating processes by
bath immersion or spraying. The surface contaminants are removed by shot blasting with
glass beads if required.

Passivating of LNG tanks

Bergen (Norway)

Passivating of chemical ship

Stocznia Szczeciska Nowa Yard

Pickling and Passivating of Stainless Steel

Stainless steels are resistant against corrosiondue to their readiness to passivation, that
means to formation at their surfaces very durable chemical compounds, among them
especially chromium, but also nickel and molybdenumcompounds are most important.
Corrosion resistance of stainless steels depends on the very thin superficial film having
thickness of thousand parts of micrometers and built of metal oxides.
A passive film created in natural conditions
suffer local damages and is contaminated
during the stages of construction w o r k s l i k e
welding, grinding, or thermaltreatment. At the
points of damages or contaminant inclusions
the metal oxide film looses compactness and/or
its ability for selfregeneration.

Control of the passive film quality

with the potential meter

Stainless steels with damaged superficial films represent weaker corrosion resistance. Brown
colours within the heat affected zone after welding, cutting or other thermal operations are
connected with increased content of chromium oxides in the superficial film. Such
discolouration instainless teels that can be seen very often along the welds means that the
metal has diminished content of chromium under the film. Because of this the metal will
corrode with a higher rate especially when conditions for crevice, pitting or intercrystalline
corrosion exist.
Gel passivated part

Part that was not passivated

Sample of 304 stainless steel with an overweld

Test for heat tint and oxide scale removing

Pickling and Passivating of Stainless Steel

Gel passivated part

Part that was not passivated

Sample of 2101 duplex steel with an overweld

Test for heat tint and oxide scale removing

The brown layer consisting of metaloxides is porous, has lower corrosion resistance and must
be removed by pickling. A correct metal oxide film should be restored later by passivating
carried out at the surface having a proper alloy composition. The best corrosion resistance of
a stainless steel can be obtained in this way.
Mechanical surface cleaning is often difficult or
impractical, because embedded abrasive particles
effect corrosion of a metal (with the exception of
Part that was
the glass beads). Chemical treatments, these are not passivated
pickling and passivation of stainless steels is
applied to remove contaminants, or embedded
iron after operations with the usage of carbon steel
tools or supports and to extract iron oxides having
low corrosion resistance. Chemical treatment
restores a uniform passive film, improves its
compactness, greatly increase content of
Gel
chromium, and also molibdenum and nickel
passivated
part
oxides. The passive film created by the chemical
treatment present much better corrosion
resistance effecting better stanless steels
durability.
Before passivating

Immersion passivated

Example of proper pickling / passivating result

Sample of 2205 duplex steel

with an overweld
Test for heat tint
and oxide scale removing